Headstones, full moon and night time activities
by Ainsel3
Summary: Suddenly struck him the idea of how everything was dark, cold and gloomy, and Nico no longer had a strong desire to be in that place. But he was also aware that he could never go home without sacrificing his pride, and he didn't want that Percy could judge him a coward.


**This fiction was born from a speech rather stupid between me and a friend of mine: in a reality AU Nico might be afraid of cemeteries, horror and related stuff? The result for me is definitely adorable, but I think I'm not a very impartial judge saw that I consider Nico adorable even when he is objectively disturbing.**

**It's a small Percy/Nico unpretentious, I hope you enjoy it.**

**So, happy Halloween everyone!**

* * *

"So guys, are you ready?"

Percy didn't bother to respond to his cousin, convinced that Connor wasn't expecting anything like that from him. In addition, he was still too angry for what Connor was forcing him to do and he didn't want to recognize his presence. Something so crazy that Percy was reluctant even to admit it, even now that they were on a beach in the middle of the night with the sea that opened like a huge black hole in front of their eyes.

Because Percy was relatively certain that a boy of twenty-four years as Connor, regardless of his dubious mental capacity, was now too big to want to visit a cemetery on the evening of Halloween; especially with his cousins who had the only guilt of being gone for the weekend at his home. Sure: Nico had agreed to this crazy idea too easily, but Percy believed that he, at least, at fourteen he still had the right to behave like an idiot.

"Come on" Connor urged them. "I'm sure I'll find some good casts for my collection."

Percy glared at him, frowning even more when Nico nodded vigorously.

"Maybe we should go home" he suggested dryly. "Trevor will not be happy to know that we went without him."

"My brother is bedridden with a broken leg" Connor replied without hesitation. "He is impatient to hear my stories on this evening. And new additions to our collection will make him happy."

Percy said nothing, merely clenched even more the lips.

He had now accepted the reality that both of his cousins was crazy on the road of no return, but their particular hobby still left him stunned. There were those who loved categorize insects, birds, shells, even stones. Yet Percy had never met anyone except Connor and Travis who harboured a passion for the casts of the tombstones.

Both were able to spend whole hours in a cemetery in search of the most intriguing epitaphs, then they knelt on the ground, put a sheet of rice paper on the inscriptions and they used a wax crayon to imprint it to perfection.

It was still harmless with respect to their phase of homemade bombs, Percy could recognize it, but much more macabre.

"Nico... are you sure you want to go on?"

When he didn't answer Percy turned and discovered so that Nico had already reached Connor in the grove behind the beach. Growling under his breath the boy hurried behind both, exasperated but resolute not to let Nico alone with a person presumably unbalanced.

The cemetery was just beyond the first trees, surrounded by a low and crumbling wall. Connor showed them a hole large enough to allow a boy to crawl through it, created by the dual action of time and the rain that had corroded the stone in depth.

A dense fog had silently covered the landscape, making the climate very humid despite the mild October that he had just passed. Nico shivered, clutching his jacket to his chest.

Peering into the thick mist he could see Connor, a blurred silhouette who wandered among the graves like a ghost. Suddenly struck him an idea of how everything was dark, cold and gloomy, and he no longer had a strong desire to be in that place. But he was also aware that he could never go home without sacrificing his pride, and Nico didn't want that Connor could judge him a coward.

Not to mention that he didn't want to face the way back alone.

In a vain attempt to calm down Nico began to walk around the graves, and choked back a strangled cry when he was grabbed by the arm. He spun around, not knowing how to react when what he saw wasn't a zombie, a ghost, a murderess equipped with ax or things like that.

"Percy...? - Nico swallowed hard and ordered his heart to stop beating so hard. "I thought... I thought you were going with Connor" he stated, trying to speak calmly.

Percy sighed while he put a hand on his head. He didn't need anything to understand that Nico, as he had widely planned, was starting to get nervous for that situation and now only wanted to leave. - Nico Come on, let's go home - he said.

In another context Nico would take advantage with relief of that proposal, but now he felt too angry for the indulgent tone that Percy had used; that of an adult who patiently endured the whims of a small child. The anger made him forget momentarily the discomfort of a few moments before, and he remembered instead the desire for transgression that had felt the first time that Connor had proposed this output.

Nico abruptly broke free of Percy's close and looked at him with severity.

"I'm going forward" he informed him shortly. "You try not to follow me as a guard dog, please. I have fourteen years, not four!"

Percy tried to reply, but Nico turned his back before he could open the mouth. Then the boy looked at him with exasperation as he walked away, and, after a brief hesitation, chose not to run after him.

Obviously Percy considered the safety of Nico the most important thing of all, as he could remember this had been so since their childhood, but he deemed legitimate and human the desire that something might scare him as Nico deserved; considering that he seemed so anxious to spend a sleepless night.

* * *

When Nico had asked Percy to stay away, he didn't believe that his request would have been really listened to. But after looking around for the tenth time, he had to face facts that there was no one at his side: not Connor and not Percy.

Nico could have frightened at the thought of being alone in a cemetery in the night less suitable for similar ventures, but initially the rage for that betrayal was so intense that it erased any other feeling. He did not think at all that he was the first to reject Percy, convinced that the boy had no right to leave him in that way.

He went back to move with more security, saying to himself to have the situation under control. After all, he had the full right to decide where to go, and if Percy was able to spend a night in a cemetery he would have done the same.

After a sudden gust of wind Nico closed the zipper of his coat, shivering, and hoisted with more attention the backpack on his shoulders before returning to walk among the tilted and chipped tombstones than that, he was almost certain, was to be the oldest part of the cemetery. With every passing minute the wind grew stronger, and a violent flurry attacked an old cypress. The leaves swirled in a whirlpool before falling to the ground, raising the earth in their wake. Nico covered his eyes with one hand as the dust made him cough.

He paused for breath: burning throat and tears in his eyes. When the backpack fell from his shoulder he dropped it to the ground, concentrated only in an effort to suck clean air.

Nico almost didn't notice he lost his balance, and the moment of awareness before falling was too short to allow him to hold on to something. He fell forward, bumping against the headstone that creaked ominously for impact. Nico groaned softly, holding his wounded arm, then stared with horror when the stone leaned dangerously until crashing with a noise that resounded violently in the silence of the place.

Nico stood up abruptly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

He would find unpleasant a similar incident even in a sunny summer afternoon, but now the thought of having disturbed the eternal sleep of some deceased made him want to run away.

He stared at the gravestone that had dropped for a few seconds, then he bent down and tried in vain to straighten it. He couldn't say how much this weighed, reluctant to admit that his physical strength was zero, but even with all his efforts he couldn't move it an inch.

"Percy, Connor... come and help me!"

He found absurd that neither of them had already arrived from him with all the noise that there had been, but it was only the silence that answered his cry. The wind never stopped to blow between the old gnarled trees of the cemetery: the bare branches swayed to the rhythm of the unkempt grass that grew near the tombstones, producing what Nico considered a chorus of whispers claims.

He shook his head vigorously, forcing himself to ignore certain absurd feelings, and gave up to raise the tombstone.

"I'm sorry - he said softly. - I swear I didn't mean to disturb you. Tomorrow, the guardian will fix everything, so tonight try not to curse me. Please?"

When he realized to be talking to a tomb Nico was silent, preferring to retrace his steps.

For a few minutes he walked without saying anything, in tension to perceive the faintest noise but without seeing anything unusual. He had almost begun to relax, at least enough not to over-tighten spasmodically the torch and stop the curses against Percy that had left him alone, when abruptly he lost his balance.

Nico stood with difficulty, but he complained of a twinge of pain that ran through the whole leg. He thought irritated to have stumbled into the root of a tree, but when he looked down he saw a hand clenched around his ankle.

Even if only for a few moments Nico had the distinct feeling that his heart had stopped beating, too shocked to register in the correct way what his eyes were watching. He roused himself from that state of trance when the hand tightened with more force, the fingers so cold, and he began to struggle wildly.

Even though he knew he had done this Nico didn't realize that he had shouted, as he didn't hear the groan that followed his football with which he managed to get rid of that narrow. Without bothering to look at what he was leaving behind Nico ran as fast as he could. The wind tore the hat from his head, but he didn't even think for a moment to stop and pick it up.

He ran without even looking where he was putting his feet, until he collided violently with an obstacle along the way. Nico almost fell awkwardly to the ground, but a pair of strong arms seized him up on time.

"Don't touch me!"

He instinctively tried to pull away, but stopped when a familiar voice called his name.

"Nico, it's me!"

He lifted his head, crossing Percy's eyes: incredulous and alarmed. Without allowing him to say anything Nico hugged him hard, burying the face in his chest. The boy hugged him out of habit, but he continued to look around in a vain attempt to understand what could have happened.

He had imagined that Nico would be _slightly_ unnerved to be alone in that place, but such a reaction was definitely disproportionate even for the more imaginative prediction. Not to be assaulted by guilt Percy hastened to move Nico away from him, decided to clarify the issue.

"Nico, you have to explain to me what happened" he said peremptorily.

The boy didn't answer immediately, if reluctant to talk or just unsure of what to say Percy couldn't tell. He waited patiently, and after a few minutes Nico's murmur made him frown.

"... A hand."

"_What_?"

"A hand!" Nico shouted, so vehemently that Percy winced. "There was a hand sticking out of the ground! He tried to grab me and... and if I hadn't escaped this would take me and..."

Nico didn't finish the sentence, returning instead to embrace him, but Percy didn't need further explanation.

Even with all his goodwill he didn't know how to respond, and only with difficulty he refrained from laying a hand on Nico's forehead and feel his temperature; fairly certain that the kid wouldn't have been happy that gesture. Excluding the possibility that Nico had hallucinations because of the fever, Percy immediately thought that the responsible for this story was Connor; but for the moment he preferred not to give voice to those suspicions for fear that Nico in that case could have groped to kill their cousin and throw him in a tomb yet to be filled.

Instead Percy placed a quick kiss on Nico's lips, waiting to see what would have been his reaction. Once ascertained that he didn't seem willing to yell at him, Percy kissed him again; more slowly and more in depth.

Nico ran the hand through Percy's hair, almost without thinking, then still clutching the boy's jacket. Percy didn't need anything else to feel the permission to push him to the ground, and he was kissing him on the neck when Nico stiffened.

"Percy, you realize where we are?"

"You're shaking... I just want to warm you."

When Nico said nothing Percy arbitrarily interpreted his silence as an consensus, then he took off without any rush the sweater he was wearing to crumple it as a pillow under Nico's head.

Percy imagined that his mother would be angry to find his clothes soiled with earth, but between this and use a headstone as a bed Percy was definitely preferred a harmless reproach.

Usually the boy never paid heed to Nico's protests, rarely sincere, but this time he found his prophecy - pronounced unstressed tone suddenly - very disturbing given the circumstances.

Nico was staring at him with an eloquent expression, his blacks eyes who were lost in the darkness around them.

"Percy, you can warm me if you want" he said. "I just hope this will not disturb the sleep of some particularly vengeful spirit. I swear that if some creepy little girl will call saying that we have only seven days of life, I will pass the call to you."

* * *

Connor was grateful to the sound of the wind that hid his exclamation of surprise, escaped from his lips when he came across by chance in those he recognized as his cousins only after several minutes.

As soon as he was forced to admit that bare back - bent towards the figure, almost completely hidden by the darkness, who was in his arms - belonged to the boy with whom he had spent many afternoons since childhood; Connor felt the cheeks burn.

The arms that encircled Percy's neck were too thin to belong to a man, but also muscular enough to understand that he wasn't a girl.

Silently as he had come Connor walked away, reluctantly but aware that if Percy had discovered that he had spied them one of those graves would soon become his. Beyond the embarrassment Connor was curious to know since Percy had brought his relationship with Nico at that level, and almost felt betrayed that the boy had never said anything to him.

Even the desire to tease Nico for his hysterical reaction was now gone, especially because the kick that he had given him to get rid of his grip had been anything but weak and Connor still opened his mouth with difficulty.

He considered it quite ridiculous that Nico was old enough to have sex - ignoring for the quiet life with whom and where - and at the same time still scared if someone, with the right atmosphere, grabbed him for the ankle.

But then Nico was always full of contradictions, since he was a child.

Connor sighed, picking up the hat and backpack that he had lost running away. Despite a slight curiosity - legitimate, in his opinion - the boy didn't really want to stay to observe to the method, particular but effective, with whom Percy could handle Nico's turbulent nature.

He already had plenty of material of which to speak to Trevor, even too much for a single night, even though Connor made a mental note to have to carry a camera the next time he went somewhere with Percy and Nico; knowing how much his brother loved the pictures before the words.


End file.
